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Thursday, December 8, 2016

A few months ago, I booked a cruise with 14 other folks and what was bound to be a fun and interesting vacation in the midst of the cold, unpredictable weather that the nation's capital is apt to bring. At the time of booking, I immediately knew that I wanted to make a new one-piece swimsuit to take on the trip. We were to be stopping in Grand Turks, Jamaica and the Bahamas so I was ready to jump at the chance for some beachy blog photos lol. I originally wanted to make a Sophie swimsuit but figured that wouldn't really be feasible seeing as though I lacked MOST of the materials for it. I remembered Vogue 9192 and decided that I would go for it. After going through my scraps and remnant bags, I realized I not only had enough fabric for ONE view of the pattern, but that I could make TWO separate views!

Everything was great until days started passing by so quickly. Then days turned into weeks... and weeks turned into months! Next think I knew, I had one week to make 2 swimsuits AND during the week of Thanksgiving! I had two free nights during the week so I resolved to make one swimsuit on each free night. Talk about dreaming the impossible dream! lol I figured this debacle would work for number 14 on the Sew '16 Challenge. 1 pattern, 2 swimsuits, 2 nights...Let's go!

The first suit I made was View B. I used scraps of fabric from my first handmade swimsuit. I got the fabrics from Fabric Mart. The lining was from JoAnn Fabrics. I recycled the same design concept from the first one and used the print for the front and solid back for the back.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Keeping on track with my seasonal plans (even though it's 40 degrees while I'm typing this) and #sew16in2016, I got a chance to make up a skirt that was inspired by a picture that I saw on Instagram in January 2015! The "Nostalgia" category for the Sew '16 challenge is to "Look back through your old sewing notes, doodles or pinned ideas. Pick one of the earliest ideas and make it happen" .I have a "sewing inspiration" folder on Dropbox and this picture may be one of the first ones I ever took a screenshot of to mimic later.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

It's getting closer and closer to the end of the 2016 so I'm trying quickly to get in my submissions for #sew16in2016. Some will probably trickle into 2017 but that's fine with me. This post will be dedicated to Stash Stretcher: sew something entirely from stash materials, patterns, notions and all.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Howdy! I just wanted to come share some goodies that I accumulated last month. And no I'm not doing this because I haven't been sewing lol I have been sewing and have about 3 garments so far to share but I don't know when I'll be able to get pictures so... soon come.

**Nothing in this post is sponsored

Anyway, last month I shared about some new knits I bought that broke my fabric fast. Well everytime I break a monetary fast, it's like I have spending built up in my bones that I have to get out lol. I went easy this time, though. The first thing I got wasn't even a purchase. Last month, The Tunic Bible released and there was a book tour around the sewing blogs. Each participating blog hosted a giveaway and I happened to win the giveaway over at HouseofPinheiro. I'm excited about this win because I think it will really expand my creativity and selfless sewing in a really positive way.

On to the purchases.... I have been wanting the Fabric For Fashion: The Swatch Book since Feb/Mar2015 when I visited McCall's in NY. They had one in their fabric room and I fell in love. When I came home and looked it up, I could only find one on eBay for like $1,000 and I was like heeeecccckkkkk no! lol I kept looking online from time to time seeing different prices and keeping it on my wishlist. I even used it as my wishlist pic for September's #SewPhotoHop on Instagram! After I let the grip go on my wallet last month, I took another quick look and on Amazon it was only $65! I put it in my cart SO QUICK. lol I haven't taken it out of the shrink wrap yet because I haven't really been home but I am sooo excited to get touchy feely with all of the swatches! (Now I'm mad because when I just looked it up again to link it in this post, I see a $44 option for Barnes&Noble -____-)

Monday, October 31, 2016

This post has been a LOOOONNNGGG time coming. I first posted a picture of this pattern and fabric match on my instagram May2015. It wasn't until Sept2015 that I posted a picture of me actually CUTTING the fabric. And here we are, over a year later finally getting to the actual sewing of the dress! I think what took me so long was that I didn't want to cut out the lining pieces because my tricot is so shifty. But I'll get to that in a minute.

This dress is Vogue 1407, a DKNY designer pattern. I love the silhouette of the pattern and if you've been reading for a while, you know I love wrap and v-necklines. I was also drawn to this pattern because I am always looking for multi-purpose garments. Things I can wear to work, church, or even dressier events. This one definitely fit the bill.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

I have this T-shirt that I got from Ross. The brand is "Free Kisses" and it is the softest most comfortable and chic looking t-shirt I've ever had. It's one of my most favorite pieces in my wardrobe and it's all because of the fabric. The fabric is soft and fluid, with 4 way stretch and it has an interesting look about it. It's white, speckled with black and it coordinated with ALOT of things in my closet. It could be dressed up or down and it was the epitome of secret pajamas. After failing in my search, online and in-store, for more of the same shirt, I stumbled across a green v-neck-ish top of the same brand and fabric! In South Carolina no less. lol As soon as I saw it on the racked I picked it up with a quickness!

I then became obsessed with finding out 1) what sorcery fabric is this?! and 2) could I get some to make my own tops?? Well a few weeks later Carolyn was celebrating National Sewing Month with a number of discounts from different companies and StyleMaker Fabrics was one of them. They actually had been doing a blog tour for their new Fall line of fabrics I believe. Well... quiet as it's kept, I've been on a fabric fast since March and I had been doing a really great job with not buying anymore fabric. I just told myself that I would just BROWSE the site and MAYBE I would stumble across my beloved textile.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

What do you call a dress started April 2015, worn unfinished, and put back in the pile to be finished at a later date? A UFO. That's what you call it. Last April, my Uncle was having a 50th Bday Bash and his the theme colors were black and gold. I knew I had some black and gold fabric so I went through some patterns with my mom and she voted on Burda 6829 as the party dress for me. I think I had about a week to make the dress but of course I cut it out the night before and started sewing the day of.... Let's not forget I sew like a snail.

I sewed all day and I got to putting the sleeves on but I was contemplating on how to finish sleeveless or whether I should add sleeves. I messed up bad and had to unpick ALOT and had to walk out of the door with no sleeves, unfinished armholes, and a cropped jacket over it all because it was atrocious.

You're probably thinking "That doesn't sound that bad. Unfinished armholes on a knit are basically finished. And isn't this on of the 'easy' Burdas?"... Everything would have been fine but I had decided to flatline the entire dress... before reading the instructions lol.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Earlier this summer when I was trying to figure out what style of skirt I was going to make my fringe suede remnant into, I went through all of my patterns to search for skirt patterns. I came across Simplicity 1812 as an option but I wasn't sold. So I thought "Well I can just make up a muslin real quick with some scrap fabric". I pulled out what was left from my Ankara shirtdress fabric and cut out the pattern. THEN I decided, "ehhh, I'll just make up my own pattern!" lol So here I had fabric cut out for a skirt pattern that, honestly, I wasn't feeling from the envelope. To a plastic baggy and the UFO basket it went. For MONTHS.

Once I decided I was trying to clean up my space and really get rid of UFOs so I could start new projects guilt-free, I came cross the baggy again. I felt like just scrapping it all to the trash. I really wasn't too fond of the pattern for whatever reason. Most of it being that they had a seam down the center front and the center back was on the fold. A small thing (and an EXTREMELY easy fix lol) but it annoyed me to no end. I am also not a fan of skirts with elastic waists so I try to avoid patterns like that. Finally I decided "ehh.. I'll just make it. It'll be quick". And quick it was.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

When I made Fall sewing plans last year, you could say I was pretty successful. I managed to sew 8 out of the 10 things I had on my plan. My hope is that I will have the sammmeeee motivation this time around as well. And I'm extending the seasonal deadline because there isn't really a cutoff for Fall around here just as there isn't a start time to Winter. They both just show up.. unannounced... just as rude as ever lol.

These are the things I plan to make. Keep in mind, I took these pics weeks ago so some things pictured may have changed, but I will explain when I get to those. Also, these aren't in any particular order. I will hyperlink the finished objects as well! Now let's get this started!!

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Hello friends! I know what you're thinking.. "Wasn't her birthday in July?"

Yes. Yes it was lol but it took Amazon quite a while to send me all of my stuff so I had to wait okay! lol I just want to share the sewing tools I got that I believe will really help elevate my sewing skillsssss.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Hello, good people! I went to Myrtle Beach last week with some friends and I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to take some pics of the new skirt I had made. It had been a while since I've made something from a pattern so it felt good to jump back into that and have some instructions to follow. I am the MacGyver type at times but I like standards too. I'm just weird like that lol

This pattern is McCall's 7363 that I waxed poetic about in this post. It's no surprise that I made View B first since that is the view on the site that made me HAVE to buy the pattern. lol I cut a size 12 straight. No alterations.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Hey folks! I'm back from an amazing vacation in Myrtle Beach and I took the opportunity to take some pics of my new skirt on the beach but that's not what this post is about lol. For my birthday, my mom bought me something that's sure to elevate my sewing to the next level <3 She bought me a dressform from The Shop Company!

I got a size 12, Professional female dress form with collapsible shoulders! On the site, the size 12 measurements read bust:38, waist:29, and hip:39 (inches). Amazingly, those are my normal measurements! I measured the form when it came and the waist and hip measurements are correct but the bust measurement is only 37.5. And I tried every angle to measure but everything came up to 37.5 max. I'm a little annoyed by that but I can obviously get over it lol. Right now my waist measurement isn't a 29 either, but I will put in the work to get it back to that size lool. More fruit and vegetables for me.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Helllooooo! I'm back with a little comparison post. A month or so ago, Dutch Label Shop reached out to me and offered to send me some labels. For free, yes. (mama I made it!). For review, no. They were clear that I didn't have to make one... And this isn't a review, just a comparison with what I have been using this entire time.

Okay, now that ya'll don't think I'm tryna sell ya'll something lol

Over two years ago, I decided to DIY some labels and I figured out a super easy and cheap way to get it done. I printed the labels on cotton fabric sheets and have been cutting them as I go ever since. My best friend made such a great design that I'll probably use forever lol. The Dutch Label Shop offered me a voucher for some labels and I was sooo happy to see that I could upload my own design! Some of the other places I've been seeing here and there force you to make something out of their own templates and I definitely wanted to keep the design my friend worked hard on.

The labels from DLS obviously look wayyy more professional. I like that they have the space on the sides to stitch them down as opposed to me trying to cut the right amount of space around the ones I printed and not having enough (or having too much). They are also bigger but on the sight, you can make them whatever size you want.

I wanted to show the long-term durability (or lack thereof) of my DIY labels. This is a dress that I wear quite often so it's been washed and dried a good number of times. You can see the label is not only scorched by the dryer but also fraying around the stitching. You can barely see what it says anymore.

I'm glad to have these new labels because I am very confident that they are made to last through laundering adversity lol. Once I use them for a while, I will comment to how they hold up. For now, I will be putting the DLS labels in super successful garments/garments I believe will last for a while.

My ONLY regret is that I didn't think of getting some in black!! *wahhhh!* I didn't think about it until I saw Ping's! It's okay though lol I'll live.

That's all I wanted to say. I have a coupon code for 15% off at Dutch Label Shop until Aug 31st if you want to try out your own custom labels. The code is telltaletasha (all lowercase)!

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Holllaaaaaa! Remember back when I used to make everything out of a remnant I found at JoAnn's? lol Well I'm back at it. I actually made this quite a while ago...June? I was having stitching withdrawals and I needed to make something...ANYTHING.

I found this (little over) 1/2 yd remnant not too long before I stopped shopping for fabric. Lucky me. The first thing that stood out to me was that diamond cut-outs... SO CUTE! And I don't have anything in my closet with fringe so I thought it would be an interesting addition. The fringe was one side of the selvage (the selvage strip was to be ripped off to let the fringe hang freely) and nothing was on the other side. You know what that means? It means that the stretch of this fabric is perpendicular to, instead of parallel with, the fringe :-/

That didn't deter me though. When I bought it, I knew it was going to be a skirt, and a skirt I set off to make. I decided to go for a self-drafted pencil skirt (made twice before |1 & 2) because I just wanted something quick. Only problem is that the other versions have SOME sort of stretch. I decided that just adding some extra seam allowance would do fine.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Heyyyyy! I told you I wouldn't be gone for too long! I'm back with a dress that has been a long time coming in the recesses of my mind. I just needed the fabric, time and an idea on how to draft it lol.

My idea came from this dress that I took a screenshot of from instagram:

I loved the way the strap stripes were horizontal and the skirt was vertical. I also loved that it was a maxi and looking at the waist, I realized it was an infinity dress. That made it an easy make. I found the cotton knit fabric at Fine Fabrics in Atlanta. The stripes weren't as wide but that didn't/doesn't bother me.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

*taps mic* Is anybody here?!?! -- Oh! hey! Nice to see that you stuck around lol

Life gets busy and things happen and reasons and stuff. You know the narrative. So let's skip all of that and talk about some of the things I missed! 3 milestones were hit while I was gone so we can have one big 'ol celebration for all of them :-)

1. My blog turned 3! June 9th marked 3 years of blogging and sometime here in July will mark 3 years of sewing! It still amazes me how this blog has connected me to so many interersting, exciting and inspiring people all over the world. And they like... know me too! It's crazy and awesome at the same time. This addicting hobby has given me skills and friends I never thought I'd have. It also gave me a closet full of fabric that my mom would've never thought I'd have either (but that's besides the point lol). Thank you to everyone that has been following my journey from the beginning and shoutout to everyone who just joined. I'm honored that you want to see what I have to say :-)

And thank you to the people who checked in on me while I've been MIA. <3
2. June 25th marked 5 YEARS since my last relaxer! Being natural has been a long hard road but it definitely gets easier.... but it kinda stays hard lol Ya'll know what I'm saying ;-) I was hoping to have waist-length hair by this time but that hasn't quite worked out with all of the unplanned set backs and my inconsistency in care. I'm trying to be more deliberate in keeping it healthy now so hopefully by this time next year, I'll be at waist-length :-)

my hair right now at full bra strap length

3. MY BIRTHDAYYYYYY! I turned 26 on July 10th! It was a quieter than usual celebration but I absolutely enjoyed it. I love being around my family and my friends make it even more special. I'm grateful to have made it to another year and I pray that I continue to grow in God's purpose for me. Shameless plug for my birthday wishlist on Amazon. I was able to get a lot of the things I wanted thanks to folks' generosity! There are a few sewing things on there that I'm still wanting. I hope to do like.. a birthday sewing haul at the end of this month. I'm so excited to share some of the things I got!

Alrightyyyy now that we're all excited from celebrating lol There has been very little sewing going on around here lol. And this jacket ain't even a part of that group. lol I have a couple more pieces to put up here soon though so I'm not going to just disappear ;-)

I made this jacket, Simplicity 1688 to wear with my Easter dress. I really wanted something easy that didn't take a lot of fabric because I was stealing a yard (and some change) of my mom's fabric lol. I needed something that had yellow in it and the tweed she got from Hancock's more than a year ago was perfect. I cut a size 14 so that I could have a little bit of wearing ease.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

I've been going to church for at least 20 years. I have believed that Jesus died on the cross for me for 18 of those years.

For 14 of those 20 years, I can't recall if I'd actually read the bible outside of church and on my own. It's not that I didn't know that I was supposed to read the bible. It's just that, when I tried, I would get two sentences in and start to yawn and my eyelids would get heavy. Not really sure WHAT to read, I would pull the "I'll just open it up and wherever it lands, that's what I'm supposed to read" card. And when that plan didn't provide me with anything that made sense at the moment, I kind of lost interest. I'd just wait for Sunday mornings or when I went to bible studies for someone to pick the passage and explain to me what things meant. For many years, I did not understand the depth of importance there was to read and know the bible for myself (And I thank God for His grace throughout all of that time!).

I knew all of the common old testament bible stories (or so I thought lol) and of course I knew about the gospel story. I think I tried doing that whole "Bible In a Year" plan, but, honestly, all of that jumping around was confusing and I really wasn't comprehending nor retaining the things I'd read. I'd rather just wait for Sundays.... Someone else would pick the scripture to read and then explain it.

I can't tell you what happened, or even when it happened, but at some point after those confusing 14 first years, I started reading the different letters of the New Testament. Most likely a desire to search for practical instruction and application, I found interest in the things Paul was saying to the different churches. I came to LOVE the New Testament over the years. Reading and re-reading different books like John and Romans, really understanding what Jesus did and how I have a brand new life, and learning how to live my new life through books like James and 1&2 Peter. I had really discovered a whole new world! The New Testament had opened up my eyes but the Old Testament still did a good job of making them close and making me snore lol.

The New Testament provided so much illumination and revelation for me, and still does. In contrast, the books of the Old Testament, namely the Historical books and the Prophets, were BORING to me. And because I thought they were so boring, I stopped trying to read them. I felt like, if I'm not under the law anymore ANYWAY I could really just focus my studying on the New Testament and be good. These days I see how flawed and flat out wrong that logic is lol (Thank God for grace!).

A little before the start of 2016, I really started to have a desire to KNOW what the Word of God says. I've sat in many sermons and classes where the teacher or preacher would link events from the New Testament to ones that happened in the Old Testament and would provide more illumination of who God is or why "this and that" is so important. And even though the Holy Spirit has graciously gave me revelation about things in the New Testament, I couldn't imagine how much I was missing out on just because I didn't KNOW what happened in the past. Being that the entire bible is about Jesus, to me, knowing Him really means knowing what happened throughout the whole thing.

When 2016 hit I decided that I was/am going to read what happened in the Old Testament. Surprisingly, it's been MUCH easier and more edifying this time around. I wanted to share some things that I did differently that could probably help someone who also feels the same way.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Happy Thursday folks! A number of weeks ago, I was trying to help my friend out with a hair photoshoot he was doing and he needed some pics that would stand out in some way. So I thought, what a better way to make natural hair more interesting than to add some bold accessory?? I got together with a friend of mine to make some flower crowns and they came out better than I could have imagined.

I thought I'd share a little about how we made them and then show you all a couple of pics from the shoot.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

In my last post I talked about my fabric shopping trip in Atlanta. Let me talk about my original reason for going down to ATL to begin with. My goddaughter, Brooklyn, was born on March 8, 2015. She was turning 1 year old and I had to make sure that she had a birthday that she would never remember. Get it? 'Cause she's ONE lol. But that didn't stop me. When she gets older and looks back at pics, she'll know she was loved and she'll appreciate the effort we put into making her day awesome.

The theme was Minnie Mouse per request from her grandmother so I knew immediately that I would be making her an outfit. I asked her mom "dress or skirt?" and she replied "skirt". I went to JoAnn to find some red fabric with white polk dots that I knew I would find in the quilting cotton section. Later, I was perusing Michael's to find crafting materials for other party favors and I came across some cute golden frilled elastic on clearance and I scooped it up. I looked up a few different resources to see what the general measurements were for 12 mo and then I found a quick no seam circle skirt tutorial. These are the results:

Thursday, April 7, 2016

You may have thought I forgot about the Sew '16 Challenge... alas, I did not. This installment is titled "Share the Love" and we are supposed to sew for someone that we never have before. Who better to pick than little humans that have just been (or will be) welcomed into the world! I made some baby blankets and I think they have become my favorite gift to give. They can be personalized so much. I had 2 girls and 2 boys on the bill. So far, 3 of them are here and one is soon to come.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

I don't know what got into these last few months but I have been buying fabric like I don't have any sense. I think NOT buying much fabric last year left a suppressed desire in me that just exploded when the new year hit lol. My imagination has definitely been controlling my wallet but you may have noticed that the output (garment posts) has not been reflected in what I'm describing.

I'm going to share my last "few" fabric purchases and then I'll share how I feel. I know collecting fabric was a discussion the last couple of weeks and I'd like to share my opinion as well :-)

But before that! Let's talk about my most recent purchase from Fabric Mart. I really do love them. So many affordable fabrics and there's always a sale going on. I have not regretted one purchase from them in the past. This last box came as a result of a 50% all Cotton Fabrics sale. Since I would like to focus more on fit this year, I figured cottons are the right place to start (Weak justification, I know lol).

I bought 2 border print cottons. Both cotton sateen if I'm not mistaken. I have been wanting a border print fabric since my first year of sewing but couldn't find any for a long time. I noticed that Fabric Mart has been selling a bit more of them so I was happy to get my hands on some. I want to make dresses out of them and I already have some Vogue patterns in mind for the job.

These are the other fabrics I picked out with that order. From top to bottom:

Bone China Silk (buy the piece)

Red rayon fabric that I have the matching black fabric to (buy the piece)

Looks lavender in the pic but is Grey cotton shirting

Tan water-repellant cotton

Knit-backed Faux fur

My yellow embroidered eyelet was in this box but I used it already here.

These fabrics I didn't choose but I got in a 6yd mystery bundle. They are all knit fabrics. The royal blue on the bottom is either a neoprene or scuba. I wish the mystery bundles came with labels like the other fabrics. They feel really nice though. I also got a 10yd mystery bundle of linings but don't have a pic of those.

I would have stopped there but a few weeks before I had already made plans to go fabric shopping with LeJanaro when I came to Atlanta for my goddaughter's birthday. I couldn't CANCEL on her lol She took me to Fine Fabrics and when I tell you I almost walked out with NOTHING LOL and not because I didn't want anything but because I wanted EVERYTHING. I walked around the warehouse for about an hour going back and forth to the same sections and then different sections. I was so overwhelmed. I did end up making some decisions though and I am proud of them. First a small look inside:

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Hello everyone! It's been quiet around here this month but it's only because I've been busy making and crafting and enjoying it! :-D That also means that I have quite a few posts coming in the next couple of weeks ;-) (also, this post is pic heavy but it also has some fit questions :-))﻿

Today I have a dress that I made by force of the one that gave birth to me lol I had a different project in mind at the time with completely different fabric but after I let her in to what was in my recent fabric purchase, she "insisted" that the yellow fabric in the box would be what I was making next. Why you ask? Because SHE had a yellow dress that she was planning to wear and of course I needed to properly coordinate. I love her.

After submitting to her suggestion (lol) I set off to find a pattern that would go with the Thred&Needles challenge for March which was Michelle Obama inspired fashion. I went through a long google search of the FLOTUS in yellow dresses and I found one that I thought I could pull off. Usher in McCall's 6887. I made View C which is better know as "business in the front and party in the back" LOL. The front had all of the design elements that I wanted to pull off the imitation dress (scoop neck, princess seams in bodice and skirt, sleeveless, straight skirt... ). I cut a combination of the size 12 and 14. I cut a 12 D in the bodice. On both center skirt pieces (front and back) I cut a 12, on accident really. I was supposed to grade out to a 14 in the skirt so I just cut a 14 in the side skirt pieces (front and back) and added the SA back to the side bodice pieces that would make them match up with the skirt. I cut a 12 at the top of the bodice back and graded out the a 14 at the skirt join. Are you still with me?